The ten worst jobs in the UK

There's good news for job-hunters. The latest government statistics show that the unemployment rate has fallen to 7.1% - or 2.32 million people. It means that 30.15 million people are now in work, and unemployment is at its lowest level since April 2009. Many people have been hanging on in jobs they hate for years now, out of fear that they'll never find another one. So this is their opportunity to escape.

So which jobs will they be leaving? Which are the worst jobs in Britain?

A study by Adzuna.co.uk revealed that the ten worst jobs in the country are:

1. Miner
On the plus side, the website calculated the average salary to be £40,500. However, you have to weigh this up with the fact that it's a dying trade in the UK (where there are only three deep-pit mines left), and for those few miners still working it's a hard and dangerous job.

2. Courier
The website reckons that a courier can make £30,200 a year. The downside is that they'll do this by risking their lives in busy cities in all weathers. The less frenetic side of the business involves warm vans on marginally longer journeys. However, it also involves plenty of heavy lifting, difficult hours and stressful traffic, which isn't to everyone's tastes.

3. Builder's labourer
The website estimates the average salary at £22,200, which is more than many labourers earn, and is scant reward for what is statistically the most dangerous job in the country. Add in the terrible weather and the hard graft, and you can see why it wouldn't have an enduring appeal for everyone.

4. Journalist
Every year graduates stream out of universities with the desperate desire to become a journalist, and the website has somehow worked out you can make £28,800 in the job. It begs the question of how it made this list. However, it's also one of the most hated professions, where 'hate pieces', criminal behaviour and insensitive journalists heaping misery on grief have ensured that journalists have earned roughly as much respect as MPs.

5. Sous Chef
The average pay of £21,256 is certainly not available to everyone in this business, where many are woefully rewarded for long hours in hot kitchens with demanding chefs.

6. Electrician
The average pay of £25,000 comes alongside rigorous targets, serious responsibilities and long hours.

7. HGV Driver
The average pay of £20,700 often comes at the cost of antisocial hours, long and stressful journeys and many nights away from home.

9. Care assistant
The £18,800 average salary is more than many assistants get - where the minimum wage is often applied. The hands-on care, long hours, and often emotionally difficult work make this money hard-earned.

10. Housekeeper
The average pay of £22,000 will be much more than many earn, in return for often back-breaking work.

The best jobs

If they're looking for another vocation, the website also named the top ten jobs as:

The trouble is that they all seem to require years of ruinously expensive education and specialist training - along with exceptional exam grades. Fortunately the website also listed the least stressful job as receptionist - which doesn't require any particular qualifications. This list also included charity workers, which could combine a lack of stress with the chance to be able to do something rewarding.

But what do you think? Would you consider these to be the best and worst jobs in the country, or did the researchers get it wrong?